April 10, 2018

Congressman Tony Cárdenas to Question Zuckerberg on Privacy

WASHINGTON, D.C.  –  Tomorrow, Rep. Tony Cárdenas will question Mark Zuckerberg  around the growing discussion of online privacy and the responsibility of big tech firms in managing users’ data. The Congressman released the following statement:

“Amidst the developing Cambridge Analytica scandal, I have joined my colleagues in sending a letter to the FTC urging them to fully investigate how Facebook, the largest social media company in the world, failed to adequately protect the privacy of nearly 90 million people. I hope to use the FTC’s inquiry into this matter, as well as his testimony before the Senate committee today,  to inform my questioning of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg tomorrow before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

What’s truly concerning is how little control we currently have over our data, and how easy it was for this one firm to game the system. With billions of social media users entrusting increasingly influential tech companies with their data, how many other Cambridge Analyticas are out there? And how can Facebook prevent them from exploiting and manipulating data to affect critical events like elections in the future? Furthermore, with their reliance on online advertising for revenue, what is their incentive to do so? I look forward to learning more about this issue in his testimony both today, and when I question him tomorrow.”